Megalomania or great self-irony. Today’s Magenta musicians announced “music for the masses” as early as 1987 after their previous album “Black Celebration”, a secret masterpiece, performed rather poorly in the charts. They were around 25 years old Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder and Andrew Fletcherand “Music For The Masses” was supposed to be her sixth album.
The “Bong” speakers, as shown on the cover, are intended to reach the whole world. Also include the story. The dark instrumental “Pimpf” alluded to the German Young People, “Sacred” questioned the sanctities of the church.
Grainy portrait photography
Depeche Mode established grainy portrait photography and music videos, for which Anton Corbijn was responsible here and in the years to come. “Behind The Wheel”, with its wheel of fortune, the Vespa and a driver wearing a headscarf, also showed how much the band had moved away from their synthipop origins. The magnificent clip seems to have fallen out of time. The sound also became more concrete. Only the water drops of “Nothing” or the empty accordion air noise of “I Want You Now” were reminiscent of the time of sound experiments.
“Never Let Me Down Again”, which is now considered a mega hit, didn’t even make it into the British Top 20. But “Music For The Masses” was exactly the transit album between Teenage angst of “Black Celebration” and the club dominance of “Violator” (another ironic record title), which brought the band forward in 1987. At the end of their world tour, Depeche Mode played in American stadiums. “Good evening, Pasadena!”
Depeche Mode – “101”:
Depeche Mode’s ideal studio album. Had it been recorded in a studio and not live in front of an audience at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where the band played their 101st and final tour concert in 1988. The four musicians did not yet play with a drummer at that time. But with a drum computer and rhythms from the synthesizer. Which gave the arrangements a corresponding tape machine flair. All songs from the “Tour For The Masses” setlist are included. For the live versions, a number of pieces were equalized and presented as maxi versions. Like “Never Let Me Down Again”, whose single Depeche Mode combined with one of their remixes. As the best of a pop band, this collection of songs is unparalleled in 1988.
“101” therefore sounds like a non-stop mix of the back catalog mixed in with the audience. Sometimes so abruptly, as if we needed to be reminded that there are 60,000 people in the stadium. “Good evening, Pasadena!” shouts Dave Gahan at the beginning. But the recording of this group, not known for improvisations, could have come from Hamburg or Madrid. The closing “Everything Counts” offers a longer interaction as Gahan invites the audience to sing along. Which it continues to do even after the song is over. So the end of the set belongs to the voices. Not the machines.
The special nature of this Californian show is expressed in the tour film, shot by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus. That a British electro-pop band has made a breakthrough in the USA. The documentary shows fans as they travel through the country. But not all moviegoers enjoyed watching U.S. teenagers ride buses instead of a full concert. What the reissue is now selling as a “cinematic forerunner of the youth culture reality TV trend”. The digitally restored edition not only contains interviews with the band and crew. But also three previously unpublished live videos. (Sony)